Judging by tulips, spring is in full bloom in Dover

Video by Maureen Iplenski/Special to the Delaware State News

DOVER — Some notes and quotes between headlines and deadlines ...

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After Easter services this morning, you might want to take a leisurely walk or drive through the city of Dover. Spring is in full bloom. Red tulips are glowing in front of the bell on Legislative Mall in the Daughters of the American Revolution garden. On Loockerman, there is a diverse variety — bright oranges, yellows and soft purples. If you can’t make the trip there, check out the video that accompanies this column. Maureen Iplenski, an intern from Polytech High School, has created a “CBS Sunday Morning”-like video of the flowers and robins. On Page 56 of today’s edition, you’ll see a “Scenic Delaware” photo of those Legislative Mall tulips, taken by Gary Knox, who seems to have a unique eye for this city. Look for more tulip photos in one of the editions this week. During a Good Friday stroll, this editor took several.

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Among the city’s tulips are the vibrant yellow-orange ones on Memorial Triangle at Loockerman Street and Kings Highway. They border the memorial in honor of Pearl Harbor survivors. It would have been interesting to talk to those men about the events of April 18, 1942. That was the date of the daring Doolittle raid. Jimmy Doolittle piloted the first of 16 planes from an aircraft carrier on a bombing raid of Japan. For today’s People section, freelance writer Harry G. Farrow Jr. penned a piece on the 75th anniversary of the Doolittle Raiders’ mission. “It was a success because the leader (Doolittle), along with the great patriot members who followed his lead, possessed the determination contained within and forced retaliation through anger for the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan,” Mr. Farrow wrote. “The Raiders made it work at the risk to their own lives. They were and are the true heroes.”

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The co-pilot on the Doolittle mission is the only survivor from the group of raiders. Now 102, retired Lt. Col. Dick Cole has appeared at the Wings and Wheels festival in Georgetown in recent years. In a photo with today’s story, you’ll see him posing in front of a B-25 medium bomber, like one of the 16 used on the daring mission.

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Mr. Farrow, a real estate agent and former Harrington mayor, is a Korean War veteran. Prior to his honorable discharge in 1956, his Signal Company was placed on orders three times for Korea, and one time, he was sent to the Island of Kemoi, located one mile off the coast of China. He said he was a cryptographer with a top secret clearance for messages sent and received. Mr. Farrow was the fifth editor and former owner of the Harrington Journal, which was founded in 1913 by his great uncle. The Journal is now a sister weekly to the Delaware State News. One of Mr. Farrow’s passions in recent years has been writing about veterans. He said readers may suggest veterans to him that would agree to interviews. Mr. Farrow can be reached at (302) 632-3327.

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Sometimes, during a walk around the city, you’ll find some hidden gems of history. Perhaps it was bit like an Easter egg hunt for this editor on Friday. Look down and you might find an interesting plaque or two. For example, the Daughters of the American Revolution garden plaque quietly rests among the flowers there by the historic bell. The plaque says the garden was moved there from a previous spot in between the north- and southbound lanes of U.S. 13 in north Dover. It gives praise to the members who tended to that garden from 1936 to 1986. A walk along the sidewalk of The Green will reveal a plaque in honor of Delaware State News founder Jack Smyth. A tree is planted in his honor there. “In memory of Jack Smyth, State News editor who loved Dover and The Green,” it reads.

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Young Emma Bertowski from Mrs. Dodd’s class at Charlotte Latin School in Charlotte, North Carolina, found the Delaware State News to be effective in helping her with an assignment. Her plea for state information ran in the March 24 edition. Jan Crumpley, owner of the Delaware Store, was among those to respond. She said customers came in to get Emma postcards, too. “Soon I started to get mail from the wonderful people in Delaware,” Emma wrote in a letter to Ms. Crumpley. “For my report, I have to erect a tri-fold poster with all of the information I am learning about your state including things like your state symbols, natural resources, tourist attractions and famous people. We are going to have a big state fair where we display all the information and items we received. “I really appreciate that you took the time and money to send me items and information about Delaware. It really means a lot to me and has been a lot of fun!”